Livingston V Queen of South at Energy Assets Arena : Match Preview

31 December 2015 09:34

Managerless Livingston will be without Darren Cole and Craig Sives against Queen of the South.

Cole and Sives miss out with knee and back problems respectively as interim manager David Hopkin prepares to potentially oversee his third match.

The former Crystal Palace, Bradford and Leeds midfielder led the side for the 4-1 win over St Mirren last weekend and a 2-0 defeat from Falkirk on Tuesday.

Hopkin had originally agreed to be in charge for two games after manager Mark Burchill was placed on gardening leave, but could now stay in charge for another match.

"We can take positives from the Falkirk game as we matched them apart from a 10-minute spell where we lost two goals," he said.

"I will be speaking to the board before the Queens game and see what direction they want to go in."

Queen of the South will be missing Callum Tapping (knee), Dale Hilson (foot) and Paul Heffernan (hamstring) in West Lothian, with top goalscorer Derek Lyle a doubt after picking up a knock in training.

Manager James Fowler said: "I watched Livingston play really well in a deserved 4-1 win over St Mirren last weekend.

"They lost to Falkirk earlier this week, however they competed really well so this will be a tough game.

"I have said for a while that they are in a false position and, having beaten us 4-1 in our last meeting, we are determined that their climb up the table is delayed."